SpaceX confidentially files to go public on stock market, reports say

SpaceX has confidentially filed for an initial public offering on the US stock market, according to reports from Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal. The IPO is set to be one of the most closely watched and highly valued listings in market history.Elon Musk’s company, which has become a dominant power in both space travel and satellite communications, could potentially seek a valuation upwards of $1.75tn. The confidential filing will give regulators a period to review and discuss the company’s financial disclosures before investors and the public are able to view them.The IPO could take place as early as June, Bloomberg reported, in what is expected to be a banner year for high-value public offerings. Musk’s rival OpenAI is also planning to go public later this year at an immense valuation, announcing on Tuesday that it had closed a funding round of $122bn, in addition to fellow AI firm Anthropic preparing its own IPO. SpaceX is the parent company of Musk’s own artificial intelligence company, xAI.SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Musk, already the world’s richest man, stands to grow his fortune even more from the IPO and get closer to becoming the world’s sole trillionaire. A successful public offering would be a major victory for the tech mogul after a volatile year that included overseeing Doge’s gutting of the federal government, widespread protests against Tesla and investigations into his Grok chatbot mass-producing nonconsensual sexualized images of women and children.Over the past decade SpaceX has grown to become the most valuable enterprise in Musk’s sprawling tech empire. It has signed extensive, lucrative contracts with the US government for defense and space travel. The US space program is heavily dependent on the company, with Nasa utilizing SpaceX rockets for the majority of its launches.In addition to its rockets, SpaceX has grown to be a major satellite communications power through its subsidiary Starlink, which ranks among the largest operators of satellites on the planet. The satellite internet service is estimated to bring in over half of SpaceX’s revenue and has also increased Musk’s geopolitical influence, with foreign actors such as the Ukrainian military relying on Starlink for combat operations and planning.As it eyed an IPO, SpaceX also acquired Musk’s xAI in February – citing plans to build solar-powered datacenters in space that could help meet the computer and energy demands of the AI boom. The artificial intelligence firm, which owns the social media platform X and makes the Grok chatbot, has lagged behind the capabilities of rivals such as Anthropic’s Claude or OpenAI’s ChatGPT but was nevertheless valued at $250bn in the acquisition.SpaceX has shifted its focus in recent months more toward orbital datacenters and assisting with Nasa’s forthcoming moon landing missions, while Musk’s long-vowed plans to build a civilization on Mars are no longer as prominent a talking point.Details of SpaceX’s finances, long a tightly held secret even to most investors, are likely to be revealed closer to the IPO. The cost of shares and other information on the listing will also become public after the Securities and Exchange Commission reviews the filing. The company is working with a number of prominent international banks, including Barclays plc in the UK, to coordinate on orders for the IPO, according to Bloomberg.